Day 1: What is Illustrator?

About Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator is a vector drawing program. It is often used to draw illustrations, cartoons, diagrams, charts and logos. Unlike bitmap images that stores information in a grid of dots, Illustrator uses mathematical equations to draw out the shapes. This makes vector graphics scalable without the loss of resolution.

Advantages of Vector Graphics

Scalable without resolution loss

Lines are crisp and sharp at any sizes

Print at high resolution

Smaller file size

Good for drawing illustrations

Disadvantages of vector graphics

Drawings tend to look flat and cartoon

Hard to produce photo realistic drawings

Common Uses for Illustrator

These are just a few examples of what Illustrator can do. If you have experience with Photoshop, you can bring your illustrations into Photoshop and enhance it. That’s how professionals do it. During the next few days, I will be covering the basics of Illustrator so that you can produce your first vector art!

Experts can produce super realistic drawings of products using gradients and gradient mesh in illustrator. However, if you were to produce a realistic drawing of mountains and rivers that I would say it would be a challenge. Illustrator is really not good at rendering textures other than smooth surfaces which can be achieved by gradients. And Kevin Hulsey is really one pro in technical illustration. Check out his portfolio. I have included the link.

I´m a brazilian designer that uses Corel Draw and want to migrate do Adobe Suite. I think the best tool to work is the tool that you reaaly know how to use, so I´m trying to learn as much I can about Illustrator.

Can I use illustrator to create webpages? I am a long time user of Corel Draw and have created looks for websites using Photoshop…I am hoping to migrate completely to Illustrator and not have to boot into vista on my mac.

Thanks! The first day of an Introduction is nice & helpfull to beginner how,where and when use this software.I admire which you had done for us.This software new for me so Hope I’ll learn Illustrator well through your 30 days.

I have purchased Adobe Flash CS3 Professional- do i need to have illustrator as well to have this function? Can i not create a project in its entirety in the Flash product i have purchased? Do all pictures need to be imported through illustrator , can I make .ai files in adobe flash?
Thanks for your timely response…. J

I have just started to learn Illustrator, I love the program, but there are a couple of bugs still in the software, it isn’t quit polished as Photoshop, things like, Anchor points appearing in the design, that I did not creat, Anchor points shooting of screen, leaving colour trails behind, and the amount of memory needed for large files is staggering, I have 4gig, and it isn’t enough for Illustrator.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this software, but because of the flaws, I usualy end up spending more time in an Illustrator design, than I do in Photoshop, there are other bugs, but the ones I have mentioned above, are the most annoying ones.

DAY 1: So far so good….I am totally new to this product but have always been fascinated by some of the things that can be created. Case in point – the camera in Photorealistic Drawings! This simply blows me away. I always felt this sort of thing was way beyond me but I guess I am about to find out once and for all. See you all after Day 2.

Lesson 1 looks good. Especially like that you give list of common project types. I noticed web design isn’t on there, though I found at least 1 person w/ a blog that uses Illustrator for that. One observation: lesson 1 is so short (only took me 5 min) that you could combine it w/ lesson 2.

I used to buy stock photos to make email stationery for my site which very expensive. I love to draw, I know basic Photoshop but never touch AI. Your tutorial helps me a lot. Thanks for making this for free

htake khaung tin

vinayak

I used to buy stock photos to make email stationery for my site which very expensive. I love to draw, I know basic Photoshop but never touch AI. Your tutorial helps me a lot. Thanks for making this for free

mereen

Mirajul

joe

RB

Lesson 1 looks good. Especially like that you give list of common project types. I noticed web design isn't on there, though I found at least 1 person w/ a blog that uses Illustrator for that. One observation: lesson 1 is so short (only took me 5 min) that you could combine it w/ lesson 2.

katkat

DAY 1: So far so good....I am totally new to this product but have always been fascinated by some of the things that can be created. Case in point - the camera in Photorealistic Drawings! This simply blows me away. I always felt this sort of thing was way beyond me but I guess I am about to find out once and for all. See you all after Day 2.

I have just started to learn Illustrator, I love the program, but there are a couple of bugs still in the software, it isn't quit polished as Photoshop, things like, Anchor points appearing in the design, that I did not creat, Anchor points shooting of screen, leaving colour trails behind, and the amount of memory needed for large files is staggering, I have 4gig, and it isn't enough for Illustrator.
Don't get me wrong, I love this software, but because of the flaws, I usualy end up spending more time in an Illustrator design, than I do in Photoshop, there are other bugs, but the ones I have mentioned above, are the most annoying ones.
All the best to you all here.
Keith.

J

I have purchased Adobe Flash CS3 Professional- do i need to have illustrator as well to have this function? Can i not create a project in its entirety in the Flash product i have purchased? Do all pictures need to be imported through illustrator , can I make .ai files in adobe flash?
Thanks for your timely response.... J

paresh

Dipika

Thanks! The first day of an Introduction is nice & helpfull to beginner how,where and when use this software.I admire which you had done for us.This software new for me so Hope I'll learn Illustrator well through your 30 days.

Darren

Can I use illustrator to create webpages? I am a long time user of Corel Draw and have created looks for websites using Photoshop...I am hoping to migrate completely to Illustrator and not have to boot into vista on my mac.

I´m a brazilian designer that uses Corel Draw and want to migrate do Adobe Suite. I think the best tool to work is the tool that you reaaly know how to use, so I´m trying to learn as much I can about Illustrator.

Experts can produce super realistic drawings of products using gradients and gradient mesh in illustrator. However, if you were to produce a realistic drawing of mountains and rivers that I would say it would be a challenge. Illustrator is really not good at rendering textures other than smooth surfaces which can be achieved by gradients. And Kevin Hulsey is really one pro in technical illustration. Check out his portfolio. I have included the link.

About Vector Diary

Vector Diary is a popular blog offering great illustrator tutorials and tips. It was created by Tony Soh, a graphic designer, who has great passion in illustration. Tony has written one of the most popular tutorial to learn illustrator and has helped more than 20,000 people. On top of that, his tutorials and tips has helped designers improve their illustration skills and have received great feedback. So join Vector Diary and start learning today!

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